Wilsthorpe School on a Joint Singing Project and Our Year 9S Have Just Experienced ‘HARA’, a Band with a Strong Mental Health Message
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Our Trust Staff Newsletter January 2020 Newsletter Latest news I hope the start of the new term is going well for everyone. This issue of our Trust wide newsletter contains news from our NQT Conference Trust leaders, who we have invited to update colleagues on We held our first Trust NQT conference at The Holiday Inn on what has been happening in their schools over the last term. 8th January. This was a great networking opportunity, as well I would also like to introduce a new Trustee who has joined as a chance for us to congratulate our NQTs on successfully The Two Counties Trust and give you an update on recent completing their first term. developments. We had a range of speakers, from several schools within the Trust. Sessions focused on our key priorities: Firstly, I would like to inform everyone that I have decided • Motivating boys to retire in December 2020. The time is right for me personally to retire and I also believe that it is now a good • Challenging the most able time for the Trust to take the next step in its development. • Raising the achievements of disadvantaged pupils. I’m tremendously proud of what we’ve created and the A huge thank you to all of those involved in the organisation contributions of many talented staff across the Trust who and delivery of these sessions, which were very well received. are committed to enabling our students to be the best they can be. There was a fantastic atmosphere and a real The Trust’s Board are working to appoint my successor buzz from the outset. and will share more news once the Trustees have made Feedback from our NQTs their final decisions for the new Chief Executive. was very positive and we - Dick Vasey, Chief Executive will use the comments to assist in our planning for further NQT support and New Trustee for next year’s conference. I would like to welcome Andrew Durrant to the Board of Trustees. Andrew has over 15 years’ Congratulations to Jenny Monk experience of school governance and he runs M.B.E a successful technology and manufacturing business and brings additional business, IT and Congratulations to Jenny Monk MBE. Jenny is a member finance skills to the Board. of the leadership team at Friesland School and has recently been honoured with an MBE. Jenny was recognised in the Andrew also works on the Board of a Derbyshire charity, New Year’s Honours List for ‘Services to vulnerable children’ supporting and developing a public park and castle and is a recognising the dedication, passion and time she gave to the Governor of Bilborough Sixth Form College. young people at Clayfield’s House as the Head of Education. In her current role at Friesland School, Jenny is a SENCO and Strategic Plan Mental Health Lead for the school. We are exceptionally proud We have updated our strategic plan to include targets up to be able to call such a committed and caring person part of to 2022, however our main strategic objectives remain the Two Counties Trust. unchanged, which are to: • Support excellent standards of teaching and learning Dick Vasey which maximises student progress and outcomes. • Maintain a clear vision and develop a strong and Chief Executive efficient central services infrastructure to secure the ongoing improvement and development of the Trust. • Ensure high-quality leadership and governance at Trust Board, Local Governing Body and individual school level. 1 Newsletter News from our Schools Ashfield School Ashfield School has a long and ‘storied’ history of outstanding performing arts productions. This year, we followed up one immensely challenging show, ‘Les Miserables’, with another technically dazzling, production of ‘West Side Story’ which ran for four sold-out evenings and two Primary matinées. With a full live band, a cast of talented students and a technical and marketing team largely made up of students, we not only showcased the wealth of talent at Ashfield School but presented a perfect opportunity to put the employability skills we have woven so carefully into our curriculum into practice. At last summer’s annual Celebration Evening, at which we reward students for academic, social and community achievement, our guest speaker was former Ashfield student, the playwright and dramatist, James Graham OBE, Olivier Award winner and Fellow of The Royal Society of Literature. He spoke of the value of the Arts in raising aspiration and praised Ashfield School for an unwavering curriculum commitment to drama, music, dance, creativity and imagination. Ashfield School also welcomed John Godber OBE, who is one of Britain’s most respected dramatists, known for observational comedies. John voluntarily gave his time to watch our students perform their exam pieces, offer invaluable feedback and give an inspirational address to students and staff. He left the school impressed by Ashfield’s vibrant and committed Drama team and the collective “seriousness of commitment and the level of enthusiasm demonstrated towards the subject we have pledged our lives to.” Our students and staff were left inspired and uplifted by John Godber’s visit and it leads us to hope that, one day, our current students will return with tales of how the breadth and quality of the Ashfield School curriculum inspired them to go and make their mark in the world. John Maher, Headteacher Ashfield School 2 Newsletter Frederick Gent School A fundamental value at Frederick Gent School is the support that we offer each other and the wider community. This has been particularly evident in the charity work that the school has been involved in over the course of the first term. Leading up to Remembrance Day staff and students threw themselves into ‘Freddie’s Bake Off’. This not only raised money for the British Legion but also saw the cakes donated to local care homes. Students donated to Foodbanks, supported Red Nose Day, donated money to worthy causes from non- uniform days and Mr Rennison’s tutor group also undertook charity Secret Santa and got a mention in the local press. The school also had a positive and successful celebration evening. The event, staged at the Derbyshire Hotel, gave parents, staff, primary school colleagues and other groups from within the local community the chance to recognise the fantastic achievements of pupils at Frederick Gent. The night recognised our students’ academic excellence, most notably the Year 11s who left with several grade 9s at GCSE and those pupils who also had strong academic or extra-curricular achievements. One of the highlights of last term was the visit by our pupils to South Africa as part of the iVenture initiative. The visit involved pupils in local charity work and gave them the opportunity to work on giraffe conservation. The pupils involved have referred to the experience as life changing in its impact. There were lots of staff very jealous of what the students had got to do and achieve while in South Africa. To finish the term the school ran what has now become a firm fixture on the calendar, Freddie Factor, an event to showcase the talents of pupils and staff alike. This was a fantastically successful way to finish the term and bring the school and the local community together. Chris Woollard, Headteacher Frederick Gent School 3 Newsletter Friesland School There has been much going on at Friesland School since the last Trust newsletter. Our Year 8s have had a great experience at Lea Green on an outdoor pursuit, team-building residential and thoroughly enjoyed it. The Upper School Show, ‘Hairspray’ was performed on three consecutive nights to sold out audiences in December. A popular Christmas Market trip to Birmingham took place alongside our Christmas jumper day that raised money for ‘Save the Children’. There has been a big focus on Anti-Bullying with the establishment of new Anti-Bullying ambassadors who have received external training. Our Arts Award students ran an excellent Christmas fundraiser for Macmillan and our sixth formers hosted a lovely Christmas party for Year 2 students from Ladycross Infant’s School. It was great to work with fellow trust member Wilsthorpe School on a joint singing project and our Year 9s have just experienced ‘HARA’, a band with a strong Mental Health Message. In addition, Year 8 experienced a powerful performance of Chelsea’s Choice and our Year 9 students have been sitting LAMDA examinations. A huge congratulation to Charlie Clarke in Year 13 who became the first student at Friesland to get through to the British Mathematical Olympiad competition after being placed in the top 1000 students nationally in the Senior Mathematical Challenge. The Maths Challenge is a national competition that encourages students to use their mathematical and problem- solving skills that they are continually developing. And by way of contrast, congratulations to Lani Frampton in Year 12, who was selected to perform as a dancer at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award in Aberdeen. She had Peter Monk, Headteacher a fantastic time and contributed an excellent piece to BBC Friesland School Newsround. 4 Newsletter Heritage High School Students at Heritage High School have been working tirelessly over recent months on fundraising and community action projects led by our Student Council and Mrs Newton. Through December, our students generously donated a huge number of items for the school to pass onto local foodbanks, including food items, clothing, toiletries and books. All this activity resulted in a mammoth 2200 items being collected and donated, demonstrating the consideration and generosity of our students and their families. In the run up to Christmas 2019, in addition to raising over £400 for Weston Park Hospital, our students collected and donated £500 to Sheffield Children’s Hospital for sponsoring a snowflake.